As the past few days and weeks have unfolded, it is becoming increasingly clear how the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) as currently drafted will have mostly unintended, mostly negative consequences for people with behavioral health conditions. We believe that these consequences easily could and should be mitigated.

One in five people in their lifetime will experience a mental health condition and four in 20 people will experience chronic, ongoing issues. Mental health is integral to overall health of an individual throughout their lifespan.

Today, Congress is voting on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Obamacare replacement bill.

As of yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) continued to estimate 24 million people will lose health insurance coverage in the next ten years, and among those that have coverage, they will have less. While these numbers are probably far from exact, no one else has provided a competing analysis and there is no reason to doubt the overall trends.